Emerald Expositions cancels 2019 Interbike show
The largest bicycle trade show in North America is on hold.
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Emerald Expositions, the owner of Outdoor Retailer, has canceled the 2019 edition of its Interbike trade show and laid off several Interbike employees, including the show director and sales director.
The news comes on the heels of Emerald altering the show format for Outdoor Retailer 2019, CEO and President David Loechner resigning, and the downfall of the publicly-traded company’s (NYSE: EEX) stock.
In a gap year, Emerald plans to seek alternatives for a show that meets the needs of the bike industry and eventually resurrect the gathering for 2020. It’s possible that bike vendors will be invited to attend Emerald’s other sports trade shows, including Outdoor Retailer.
When the story broke last night, people expressed disappointment and disdain with what they consider a declining show, based on comments on Bicycle Retailer & Industry News’ Facebook post. Some mentioned last year’s move from Las Vegas to Reno, Nevada, as a negative change.
“The past four years have been difficult for the U.S. bicycle market,” Emerald Expositions’ Sports Group Executive Vice President Darrell Denny said in a statement. “The substantial increase in tariffs on bike related imports during 2018, and announced for 2019, is compounding these challenges. As a result, we are rethinking how to best serve the cycling industry and will conduct a review of the possible timing, locations and formats with dealers, brands, distributors, reps, designers and media over the coming months. Our goal is to develop and deliver thoughtful solutions which provide strong returns on investment for all industry participants.”
Show Director Justin Gottlieb, Sales Director Andria Klinger, Art Director Andy Buckner, and Marketing Manager Jack Morrissey will be leaving the company by the end of the year.
Emerald has also made changes to the three Outdoor Retailer shows in 2019, cutting Summer Market in June and Winter Market in November down from four days to three days. Many people SNEWS talked to at the last November show said four days was too many, and the final day has the reputation among showgoers as being used for sample sales and as a travel day.
